Railway brake rigging



May 11, 1954 s. J. ANGLE RAILWAY BRAKE RIGGING Filed March 14, 1951 Fly FII lds mvENToR STEPHEN JAA/Gu. BVM L.)

ATTORNEYI irai Patented May 11, 1954 UNITED STATES OFFICE RAILWAY BRAKE RIGGING Application March 14, 1951, Serial No. 215,577

(Cl. 18S-56) 3 Claims. l

This invention relates to railway brake rigging.

In a well known design of railway truck, the outboard pull rods of the brake rigging are disposed in close .proximity to underslung framesupporting equalizers. Whenever it has been necessary to remove the frame of such a truck from the wheel and axle assemblies, as in the case of repairs, it has been the practice to entirely disconnect the brake rigging from the frame. This has been necessary since the connections between the outboard pull rods and the levers adjacent the equalizers have been inaccessible for disassembly.

The object of the invention, therefore, is to provide for use on a railway truck a clasp brake rigging that can be readily disassembled whenever itis desired to remove the truck frame from the wheel and axle assemblies. A further object is to provide such rigging, including a pull rod parallel to and in proximity with the equalizers, so constructed that the end of the pull rod adja cent the equalizer may be readily disconnected from the remainder or the rigging, thereby to ,permit the easy removal of the truck frame from the wheel and axle assembly. A further object is to provide such brake rigging, including a pull rod in close proximity to the equalizer, so constructed that the end of the pull rod adjacent the equalizer 4may be readily disconnected from the remainder of the rigging when the rigging is in operative position on the truck. Still another object is to provide a novel connection between a lever and the pull rods of a brake rigging that can be readily disconnected when the brake rigging is in operative position on a truck. Other and further objects of the invention will appear from the following description, the accompanying drawing and the appended claims.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 shows a fragmentary side elevation of a railway truck construction having a brake rigging to which the arrangement of the invention is applied; Fig. 2 is an end View taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1, some of the elements of Fig. 1 being eliminated to simplify the View; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view taken in elevation of the connection between a lever and a pull rod which forms part of the invention; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section View taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1; and Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of detail parts.

Referring to the drawing, journal box I is mounted conventionally upon the journal II 0I" wheel I2 of one of the wheel and axle assemblies of a railway truck. To facilitate description, the wheel and axle assembly shown will be considered to be the rear assembly. A pair of underslung equalizers I3 rest at their rear ends upon the journal box IQ and extendA longitudinally of the truck frame Ill, the opposite or front ends (not shown) of the equalizers resting upon the journal box of the front wheel and axle assembly (not shown). Although a pair of equalizers are here illustrated, it is of course understood that the invention will be applicable if only one equalizer should be found preferable. A pair of hanger levers I5, pivotally supported at I5 by the truck frame, are provided intermediate their ends with a brake head II Ipivoted therebetween at Ha. Head ll carries a shoe I8 adapted for frictional braking engagement with the rim of wheel I2. rThe lower ends of levers I5 are connected by pin and slot means I9 to pull rods or straps ZI and 22, the connection being adjustable byl means of a slack adjuster 20.

A second ,pair of hangers 23 are .separately pivoted at 23a to opposite sides of the truck frame and carry between them at their lower ends a brake head 2d, equipped with a brake shoe 25 for frictional engagement with the rim` of wheel I2. Brake lever 2t, which is a live lever, is actuated by conventional power cylinder means (not shown), and is pivotally secured at Zta intermediate its ends to hangers 23 and brake head 24. Lever 26 is arranged between hangers 23, as best seen in Fig. 2, and at its lower end is pivotally connected at 21 to pull rods 2l and 22 by a device best shown in Fig. 4 and later more fully described. It should be here noted that the pivotal connection 2l (see Fig. 2) is relatively inaccessible for disassembly because of the proximity of the inboard equalizer i3 and the nearness of the rail R. In the prior art, it` has been the practice, in the event it should be desired to lift the truck frame from the wheel and axle assembly, to entirely disconnect the brake rigging assembly from the frame on one end and from the actuating mechanism at the other. In the illustrative embodiment, this would mean disconnecting hangers I5 from the frame at pivots I6 and lever 26 from its actuating mechanism at pivot 28. It would also mean disconnecting hangers 23 from the frame at pivots 23a. To avoid such a. time-consuming and ,inconvenient practice, the device of the invention has been designed.

In the original assembly of the truck, hangers I5 and 23 are pivoted to the frame, and lever 26 is operatively connected to hangers 23. This sub-assembly is lowered into position upon the equalizers and the pull rods `2l and 22 are then connected to hanger I5 at I9. P-ull rods 2i and 22 are next connected to lever 26, as will now be described. The lower end of lever 26 has an enlarged portion or hub 3| formed with smooth parallel faces 32 and 33. A bore 34 extends through hub 3|, its axis being normal to the planes of the parallel faces. Hub 3| is considerably shorter on the Side toward the equalizer than on the opposite side so that there will be clearance between the face 32 and the equalizer in order lto permit the connection to be made between the pull rod and the lever. Bushing 3S, prior to the sub-assembly, has been pressiitted into bore 34 of lever 26 so that its end portions 31 and 38 extend somewhat beyond the faces 33 and 32 respectively; and before the subassembly is lowered into position, bolt 39 is inserted through the bushing with its hexagonal Y head 4l disposed loosely on the short side of hub 3|. Head 4| has a larger diameter across the corners than the inside diameter of bush- 'ing 3B so that passage of bolt therethrough in an inboard direction is prevented. After the subassembly is lowered upon the equalizers, pull rod 2| (which has already been connected to lever i5) is positioned upon end portion 38 by passing hole 35 over head 4| and pull rod 22 (already connected to lever E5) is positioned upon end portion 3l by passing its hole 35 on to such end portion. Washer 42 and lock-washer i3, are loosely applied to the inboard end of bolt 33 and nut 44 is run down on threads 45 suilicient for temporary assembly. Allowance is made in such 'temporary assembly for longitudinal movement of the bolt to the left again so that its head `4| may be moved toward the equalizer to permit retainer member 4t to be applied to the bolt to act as a washer between bolt head 4| and pull rod 2| Retainer 4S is thereupon positioned flush against the outboard side of pull rod 2! and curved seat 41 of notch 4S is brought into engagement with the shank of the bolt. The radius of seat 47 is equal to or slightly greater than the radius of the bolt shank.

Pull rod 2| is formed with a conventional adjusting hole 48 which is used for taking up slack in the rigging when the brake shoes are worn down. Hole 49 is now used for the further purpose of locating retainer 46. Retainer 43 has a hole 59 which will be aligned with the hole 48 whenV retainer 45 has been positioned flush F against the pull rod. Plug 5| is inserted into hole 159 from the inboard side of the outboard pull rod 2| and is provided with an -annular iiange 52 to abut the inboard side of the pull rod. Central aperture 53 of the plug will be aligned with hole 5t of retainer member. Bolt 54 is then inserted from the inboard side through holes 53 and 50 and a small nut 55 is applied thereto. Of course any suitable means to lock retainer 43 in place by utilizing hole 48 will suiiice, the plug and bolt and nut arrangement merely being illustrative of a preferred means. Nut 44 is now run do-wn tightly so that -bolt head 4| tightly secures retainer Vlili, pull rod 2|, washers 42 and 43, and pull rod 22 against the lateral faces of the enlarged hub of the lever. Bolt 54 serves to lorevent retainer 45 from backing out of position in case the assembly should loosen under the wear and tear of operating conditions. Since bolt 54 is not subjected to heavy forces, it is of relatively small dimensions. It will be apparent from the foregoing discussion that retainer i6 is reversible. If lever 26 is connected to adjusting hole 49 after Wear of the brake shoes has occurred, then retainer 45 is reversed to permit plug 5| to be inserted in hole 35 of pull rods 2| and bolt 54 and nut 55 are assembled through the plug to hold retainer 46 in place. Then the assembly shown -in Fig. 4 is the same except that hole 49 is used instead of hole 35 in pull rod 2|. The function of the parts is identical to that previously described.

With the construction heretofore described, disassembly of the levers l5 and 26 from pull rods 2| and 22 is easily accomplished. Nut 55 is easily removed with a small wrench and bolt 54 is -pulled out from the inboard side. Nut 44, which is easily accessible for an operators wrench, is backed off so that bolt 39 and bolt head 4| may be moved to the left, as seen in Fig. 4. Retainer 46 is then easily knocked out of engagement with the bolt shank. Pull rod 2| may then be pulled laterally off bushing 33 and over bolt head 4| and dropped down. Pull rod 22 is disconnected from engagement with bushing 36 after nut 44 has been run o and washers d2 and 43 removed from bolt 39.

While there have been hereinbefore described approved embodiments of this invention, it will be understood that many and various changes and modcations in form, arrangement of parts and details of construction thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims are contemplated as a part of this invention.

What I claim is:

l. In a railway truck of the class wherein underslung equalizers are disposed adjacent the brake rigging on the outboard side thereof and in close proximity thereto, in combination, hanger means suspended from the truck frame on opposite sides of Vja wheel to carry clasp brake shoes; a live leverconnected to the rst of the hanger means; -a -pair of pull rods arranged on the inboard and outboard sides of said wheel and connected at one end to the live lever and at the other end to the other of the hanger means, the connection between said pull rods and the lever being in close proximity to an equalizer and comprising a bolt having an integral head disposed on the outboard side of the connection and a shank extending through the pull rods and the lever pivotally connecting the same, the outboard pull rod having a hole therethrough adapted to pass over the bolt head; a retainer member between the bolt head and the outboard pull rod; means to lock the retainer member in position and means on the inboard side of the lever to draw the bolt head and the retainer member against the outboard pull rod thereby to maintain the pull rods in pivotal connection with the lever, said retainer member being removable when 'the inboard drawing means is loosened thereby to permit the outboard pull rod to be passed over the bolt head for disengagement of the connection between said pull rod and the lever.

2. A combination, `according to claim l,V in which the retainer member has a notch to engage the bolt shank.

3. In a railway brake rigging, a connection between a live lever and a pair of pull rods comprising a hub on the lever having a bore therethrough, a bushing extending through the bore to form supporting means for the pull rods, a bolt having an integral head disposed on the outboard side of the connection and a shank extending through the pull rods and the bore pivotally connecting the rods and lever, the outboard lever having a hole therethrough adapted to pass over the bolt head, a retainer member between the bolt head and the outboard pull rod, means to lock the retainer member in position and means on the inboard side of the lever to draw the bolt head and the retainer member against the outboard pull rod thereby to maintain the pull rods in pivotal connection with the lever, the arrange# ment of the elements being such that upon loosening of the drawing means the retainer member may be removed from the connection and the outboard pull rod may be moved over the bolt head.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

